CLIENT GROUP ANALYSIS: QTLY BULLETIN ON FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN

24 Oct 2002 10:15 AM

First Release Coverage: Great Britain Theme: Social and Welfare

CLIENT GROUP ANALYSIS: QUARTERLY BULLETIN ON FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN ON KEY BENEFITS - May 2002

This series comprises people of working age who claim a key social security benefit and who receive an additional allowance for a child under 16 years of age or for a young adult dependant aged between 16 and 18 in full-time education. It has been developed from existing data on individual benefits to give a more coherent picture for this group. It is published on a regular basis via the attached statistical bulletin. See notes to editors for further details.

Main findings

At May 2002, 2.5 million children (19.4 per cent of all children in Great Britain) were living in families claiming a key benefit (the term children refers collectively to children aged 0-15 and young adult dependants aged 16-18 in full-time education). This number of children in families claiming a key benefit was 3.5 per cent down from last year. While numbers classed as unemployed fell by 14.6 per cent over this period, and those classed as lone parents by 3.2 per cent, the number of children in families claiming a key benefit in the sick and/or disabled category fell by 0.7 per cent.

Although the number of families with children less than 16 years, where the benefit claimant was single fell from the previous year (as did the number where the claimant had a partner), a greater proportion of children were living in families where the claimant was single (72.6 per cent compared with 71.8 per cent a year earlier).

Among the sick and disabled, proportionally fewer children were under the age of five compared to other statistical groups. This reflects the older age profile of those claiming a sickness and/or disability benefit.

Of those children in families on a key benefit, 64 per cent had been on benefit for at least two years. This increased from 62 per cent in May 2001. Conversely, the percentage of children on benefit for under one year has dropped from 23 per cent in May 2001 to 22 per cent in May 2002. For the sick and disabled group, the figure was higher - 76 per cent at May 2002.

The percentage of children (aged under 16 or aged 16-18 and in full-time education) living in families claiming a key benefit varied from 28 per cent in the London Government office region down to 13 per cent in the south east Government office region.

Sixty-seven per cent of key benefit children were in families that were claiming income support only.

While three per cent of families claiming child benefit had four or more children (May 2002), the figure was eight per cent for families on key benefits. For the unemployed the figure was even higher at 12 per cent.

Key benefits

- Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)

- Incapacity Benefit (IB)

- Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)

- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

- Income Support (IS)

- National Insurance Credits (through JSA or IB)

Notes to editors

1. DWP Analytical Services Division (ASD) has developed these analyses from its existing samples of administrative data on the working age population. This work was done primarily to help improve the relevance of DWP data to monitor the Government's welfare reform agenda.

2. By matching data from individual 5 per cent samples, an estimate can be made of the number of people who were claiming at least one of the key benefits that are available to the population of working age with the main exception of widow's benefit, housing benefit and council tax benefit. Information on the key characteristics of these claimants is also available, such as age, sex, geography, family type, client group, duration of claim and number of children. It is also possible to look at changes in the composition of this group in the benefits system over time, including those that affect individual claimants.

3. These analyses are based on information collected for the administration of benefits. This means that analyses of such things as family type and number of children are based only on those for whom some additional allowance of benefit is payable.

4. The bulletin includes appendices on child benefit, the Child Support Agency and maternity allowance. The latest quarterly maternity allowance figures are also available from today on request.

5. Figures are published on a quarterly basis via the attached statistical bulletin. The definitive estimates of caseloads and characteristics of claimants of each individual benefit can be found in the separate publications and press releases that ASD also issues on behalf of DWP.

6. Tables 14 to 20, which can be found at www.dwp.gov.uk, cover children in families on benefits and/or tax credits. Family credit and disability working allowance ceased to be available to new claimants in October 1999 and were completely phased out by April 2000. They were replaced by Working Families' Tax Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) and are administered by Inland Revenue. Data on awards of WFTC and DPTC are supplied by, and used with agreement of, Inland Revenue.

Issued by:
Information Centre
Analytical Services Division
Department for Work and
Pensions

Telephone:
Public Enquiries: 020 7712 2171

DWP website: www.dwp.gov.uk

Statistician:
Steve Roberts
Information Centre
Analytical Services Division
Department for Work and
Pensions
Room BP5 2 01
Benton Park View
Benton Park Road
Longbenton
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NE98 1YX

Next Publication: 30th January 2003